Urbanization

Ethiopia was under-urbanized, even by African standards. In the late
1980s, only about 11 percent of the population lived in urban areas of
at least 2,000 residents. There were hundreds of communities with 2,000
to 5,000 people, but these were primarily extensions of rural villages
without urban or administrative functions. Thus, the level of
urbanization would be even lower if one used strict urban structural
criteria. Ethiopia's relative lack of urbanization is the result of the
country's history of agricultural self-sufficiency, which has reinforced
rural peasant life. The slow pace of urban development continued until
the 1935 Italian invasion. Urban growth was fairly rapid during and
after the Italian occupation of 1936-41. Urbanization accelerated during
the 1960s, when the average annual growth rate was about 6.3 percent.
Urban growth was especially evident in the northern half of Ethiopia,
where most of the major towns are located.

Addis Ababa was home to about 35 percent of the country's urban
population in 1987. Another 7 percent resided in Asmera, the second
largest city. Major industrial, commercial, governmental, educational,
health, and cultural institutions were located in these two cities,
which together were home to about 2 million people, or one out of
twenty-five Ethiopians. Nevertheless, many small towns had emerged as
well. In 1970 there were 171 towns with populations of 2,000 to 20,000;
this total had grown to 229 by 1980.

The period 1967-75 saw rapid growth of relatively new urban centers. The population of six towns--Akaki, Arba Minch, Awasa,
Bahir Dar, Jijiga, and Shashemene--more than tripled, and that of eight
others more than doubled. Awasa, Arba Minch, Metu, and Goba were newly
designated capitals of administrative regions and important agricultural
centers. Awasa, capital of Sidamo, had a lakeshore site and convenient
location on the Addis Ababa-Nairobi highway. Bahir Dar was a newly
planned city on Lake Tana and the site of several industries and a
polytechnic institute. Akaki and Aseb were growing into important
industrial towns, while Jijiga and Shashemene had become communications
and service centers.

Urban centers that experienced moderate growth tended to be more
established towns, such as Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and Debre Zeyit. A
few old provincial capitals, such as Gonder, also experienced moderate
growth, but others, such as Harer, Dese, Debre Markos, and Jima, had
slow growth rates because of competition from larger cities. By the
1990s, Harer was being overshadowed by Dire Dawa, Dese by Kembolcha, and
Debre Markos by Bahir Dar.

Overall, the rate of urban growth declined from 1975 to 1987. With
the exception of Aseb, Arba Minch, and Awasa, urban centers grew an
average of about 40 percent over that twelve-year period. This slow
growth is explained by several factors. Rural-to-urban migration had
been largely responsible for the rapid expansion during the 1967-75
period, whereas natural population growth may have been mostly
responsible for urban expansion during the 1975-84 period. The 1975 land
reform program provided incentives and opportunities for peasants and
other potential migrants to stay in rural areas. Restrictions on travel,
lack of employment, housing shortages, and social unrest in some towns
during the 1975-80 period also contributed to a decline in
rural-to-urban migration.

Although the male and female populations were about equal, men
outnumbered women in rural areas. More women migrated to the urban
centers for a variety of reasons, including increased job opportunities.

As a result of intensified warfare in the period 1988-91, all urban
centers received a large influx of population, resulting in severe
overcrowding, shortages of housing and water, overtaxed social services,
and unemployment. In addition to beggars and maimed persons, the new
arrivals comprised large numbers of young people. These included not
only primary and secondary school students but also an alarming number
of orphans and street children, estimated at well over 100,000. Although
all large towns shared in this influx, Addis Ababa, as the national
capital, was most affected. This situation underscored the huge social
problems that the Mengistu regime had neglected for far too long.